to a point to rival USC and claim the local talent to ourselves. Realistically though, USC is probably one of the top five brands in college football, along with Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma, or maybe Michigan, Texas, or Penn State. I think it’s a good thing to have someone of that status nearby in the West. (Oregon doesn’t count, despite what your Nike uniform-loving, pink wearing, fifteen year-old neighbor might think.)

Whittingham thinks they’re his rival, and he can keep dreaming.

If we have to lose kids to other western schools (you can’t win ‘em all) I’d rather lose them to a national brand like USC over schools like Oregon or Washington, since I think BYU has as much cache as those schools do, even if I might be blue-goggled. Even my blue goggles can’t unsee what the appeal of USC is though, on the national front.